Wednesday, July 17, 2013

old friends, new friends

I guess I have been neglecting the blog a little and my updates are stretching into only once a week. I think about blogging during the week but our workday usually ends after 10pm and our priority is food and bed. :-)
For some reason my week was more of a struggle to get through last week. I can't really put my finger on it but work was more like "work" if you know what I mean.
One thing that I have noticed here, and have heard of from other work campers, is the tendency of some of our co-workers to take it upon themselves to be "supervisors". They are usually people who are on their 2nd, 3rd or more season(s) of working at a certain location. They might have even been "the boss" in their former career and feel like they need to "help others" with their supervisory experience. Unfortunately we have encountered these types last year at the KOA and a couple here at Crazy Horse as well. Instead of doing their part to get the job done they just stand back and "look busy" all the while interjecting their opinion on how you should do the work, oftentimes in direct conflict with how your real supervisor trained you to do it. This puts you in between a rock and a hard place and tends to add stress to your day. Rudee and I both have ran into this while working here and with us being the "rookies" we are both targets for them. I actually had to tell one coworker to back off a little because he was not following proper procedures and was trying to instruct me to do as he did. I told him our supervisor trained me to do it a certain way and he told me that as long as the supervisor was not here that he was in charge and would do things as he saw fit. Needless to say we disagreed and I distanced myself from him so I could do the job as I was told to do it. Rudee had the same issue with a different excuse. Her coworker told her "we didn't do that last year so we don't have to do it that way this year". I don't understand this type of thinking. Sure we only make a little more then minimum wage but does bucking the system make you feel more important? We are here to have some fun,earn a few $$'s, make some new friends and enjoy the adventure. I think that is what work camping is (or should be) all about. Oh well rant over. :-)

Sunday morning we met with our "biker buds" Doug, Rand, Fred and Jan for breakfast in Custer. Fred and Jan were pulling out to continue their travels and we wanted to say our goodbyes. They are heading further east to visit more friends and family.
Sunday evening I was working the entrance gate and heard an air horn blowing from a passing truck. Hey, I recognize that rig! Turns out our friends from Indiana, Niles and Deb Robinson, were due to arrive on Monday but ended up pulling in this evening. Once we got off work we drove over to Custer where they are camping for the next month and caught up with all the hometown news. Welcome back to the Hills guys!

I have been corresponding back and forth with Jim and Robin Hicks. We "met" on the Escapees HDT (heavy duty truck) forum and they just got started with their camp host duties in Custer State Park. We made a date to meet for breakfast Monday morning in Custer. They also just happen to have a Goldwing motorcycle so we decided to take a little ride afterwards. :-)
Once we got breakfast over with we headed to Deadwood via New Castle Wyoming so we could see some of the countryside. Stupid me, I forgot the camera so no pictures of our outing. :-(
We decided to take advantage of our VIP cards and stopped into the 76 Museum in Deadwood. They have a lot of rodeo memorabilia as well as a huge collection of horse drawn carriages. Jim and Robin had to be back to work by 5pm so we dropped them off at their park before heading on to Keystone for dinner. Thanks for a great day guys, looking forward to some more rides together.
Leaving Custer State Park we rode Iron Mountain Rd. into Keystone. This road has several tunnels and if you are headed the right direction (we were) Mount Rushmore is visible through the tunnel. :-)
I don't think I could ever get tired of the scenery in this part of the country.

Tuesday was warm and sunny and we wanted to do some more riding so we headed to Wall SD home to the famous

We have been here before so just did a quick look around and got our free ice water before riding on.
Next stop was Badlands National Park where we paid the $10 entrance fee to ride through the park. The temperature had risen into the 90's making the Badlands even badder. :-)

We made a stop at the lodge and cooled down with a glass of ice tea before heading across SR 44 towards Rapid City. We sure were happy to be back in the Black Hills where the temperature is more moderate then in the "low lands". :-)
We head back to work today and our schedules are very similar so we can ride together, at least for today anyway. :-) I'll keep you posted.

2 comments:

I feel the job should be about the fun! We're sure not getting rich. We're hard workers and tend to work harder when we can laugh and cut up! Meeting and making friends and seeing the sites is what it's all about.

I feel your workamper pain! We CO-Host here at the park with another couple, not together but us one week and them one week. They don't consistily enforce park rules and frequently don't charge park fees and it creates many problems for Judy and I when we work because we enforce the rules and charge all fees.

I enjoyed your pics of the area. I am no longer an active "biker" now but I did ride my "roadking" out to the area in the summer of 2006.

About Me

We sold our house in 2009 and moved into our Montana 5th Wheel living and working in Central Indiana, saving for early retirement. That day finally came and in October of 2011 we dropped out of the rat race for a life on the road! In October of 2012 we traded the Montana and Freightliner for a Winnebago Journey motor home. Follow along as we travel the country living and working from our RV.